slugger wrote:My post said that the 3B umpire was angry that he went to the umpire behind the plate about the play and asked for help (out of courtesy to the coach that asked for it)..When umpires do that, there is a protocol for how you ask your partners for help. One way lets your partners know you saw it clearly and are asking for help to make the coach happy but you need to support me on the call i made. "I got a safe on the play as the fielder never had possession of the ball." Or you go to your partners and are really wanting to know if they saw something different b/c you were blocked or aren't totally sure of the play "From my angle it appeared like there was a bobble. Did you have a better angle and see anything differently
SNIP for brevity
What a load of crap. If that is what your friend believes, he needs to get off the field and stay away from the game. For that matter, I'm not aware of any quality sports official which would buy into this bush league mechanic. Simply stated, if you don't want an honest answer, don't ask the question. If you do ask the question and don't like the answer, don't change the call! But then again, you shouldn't have asked the question. If the umpire is not smart enough to hold the conversation privately, the umpire has no complaint if they end up looking like an a$$.
An umpire who acts like this will find it hard to get real umpires to work with them. The only true part is that there is a manner in which you ask for additional information, but that is a matter of specifics, not a general "what have you got?"